Things are going fairly well in our neck of the woods, the temperatures are mild, the doctors say I should live quite a while longer that we are doing better – still have some things each wants me to do and they do not conflict with each other, which is always nice.

Won’t be too long when we will have to get the garden ready for Carla to play in.

Philippians 4:7-9 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

⁹ Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Now just how, in this day and age are we supposed to do this?

Every news cast, almost every article on a web page, newspaper or magazine; almost every TV program or movie give us scenes of brutality, criminal actions, people dying and/or doing outrageous acts – often making sin a good thing.

It seems the only way we can avoid this is to just isolate ourselves, stay away from everyone and refuse to acknowledge the modern world.

We cannot escape it any other way – and yet, we are told in John 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

We are saved from our sins.  But we were also saved that we might become servants of God that we might praise Him, that we might tell others about His Saving Grace and to help each other as we struggle with life’s temptations.

To do that, we have to be in the world.  We have to interact with people, we have to overcome the temptations that are out there so people can find God.

Satan has always placed obstacles in our paths – we see it more, now, because we are here, now.  Yes, the things that television or movies portrayed 50 years ago are far less graphic and hostile to Christians today.  But look at some of the early films and see where they are promoting sinful life styles, not as openly, but there none the less.

Satan has always used the latest technology to promote sin.  Look at the Operas written hundreds of years ago – many are ‘R’ and even some ‘X’ rated in todays ratings.

Etchings on the walls of past empires depict sinful behavior.

Even paintings, which are highly proclaimed to be by the masters, often contained a message from satan.

Some of the first things done with photography was making pornographic pictures. 

It is all around us, but it has always been all around us, ever since satan convinced Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit and then giving it to Adam.

Yes, it is difficult.  But what do we do when we see such things?  How does our mind react, how do we process it?  What, do we allow to inhabit our minds?  What things do we think on?

The technology is, in of itself, neither good nor bad, it is how it is being used, and satan knows how to use it.

Where once Christians were forbidden to see movies and television was outlawed, Christians today are using these mediums to promote God’s messages – and people are finding Christ because of it. 

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

think on these things.

We cannot always choose to see only purity and goodness.  We can strive to minimize our vision of these items by carefully choosing what we watch or read, but there will always be things out there that will try to draw us away from God.

Satan works very much like advertisers work.

Advertisers are very good about sucking us into their vortex and making us think about their product after their commercial is over.  They want those images, those ideas to become so much a part of our thinking process that we dwell on their message.

Advertisers know that you can’t just say it once, it must be said many times – it has to be catchy it has to stick in your mind so that when you mention the type of item you want THEIR message is what we see. 

They target their audience; they know the demographics of those watching certain programs and produce their advertisements to appeal to that age group, that social-economic scale.

One of the best examples I see is in the equestrian circles.  If the program is on ‘common’ horses and activity (riding trails, working the horses on farms, etc.) that are owned by most people, the products displayed are less costly and deal more with the proper care, proper equipment, etc.

However, when you watch the shows that are covering the Dressage style of riding which often includes jumps, etc. the sponsors are high end watches and vehicles – different viewers who tend to be ‘wealthier’ than the other groups.

Satan does the same thing with us, he knows us, he knows how to tempt us, to use the things that will pull us towards sinning or at the very least, keep us from worshipping God.

Christ knows that, yet, He didn’t pray that we be taken from the world but we are kept from evil – the choice of participating or not is up to us, but God will keep us from evil if we remember to keep out thoughts, our minds, our heart on Him.

We are faced with evil all the time – but what God wants us to do is whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

We can focus on these things and not the other things, the things of this world that are harmful to our spiritual life.  We may see them, we may even experience their attacks, but if we deliberately choose to focus on those things that promote holiness then we will soon find we can forget those jingles and slogans of the advertisers and work at remembering the Word of God and the things that bring us closer to Him.

We can do it, we just have to have a will to do it, we need to practice, we need to actively replace those evil thoughts with whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Later, Art :-)